SaturTabs

Photo by SLT

one of the Republicans who must sweat his reelection chances in 2026, North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, was not exactly subtle in his questioning of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“Whose throat do I get to choke if this turns out to be wrong?” Tillis asked. He added, “I’m not condemning it because I’m not a trade expert. . . . I’m just trying to figure out whose throat I get to choke if it’s wrong and who I put up on a platform and thank them for the novel approach that was successful, if they’re right.”

Well, since he is a part of the party implementing this stuff, I guess some auto-asphyxiation may be in order. Especially since he could have voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment to help forestall where we are. Mitch McConnell is a prime candidate for not using his power to accomplish that feat as well.

And here’s a thought: maybe go talk to some talk experts if you don’t understand what is going on? You are not a helpless bystander. You are a US Senator!

From the linked piece:

A prolonged trade war would have serious repercussions for the Tar Heel State’s economy. According to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, last year North Carolina exported a record $42.8 billion of goods to the world, making it the 15th largest state exporter of goods. In 2022, according to the latest data available, exports from North Carolina supported an estimated 145,000 jobs.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter and/or BlueSky.

Comments

  1. Flat Earth Luddite says:

    Vis-a-vis the churn at FBI/ATF, I’m looking forward to the conjoined DEA/ATF monopoly. Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, firearms AND explosives? Now that’s a party Luddite will sign up for!!!!

    ETA, Dr. T, so you’re the one who wound up with the chair from my childhood home? /s/

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  2. Kurtz says:

    Wrt the author charged with attempted murder.

    We need more facts before drawing conclusions. But I tend to agree with your castle doctrine point.

    Of course, cops have never erroneously claimed that someone pointed a gun or an object that sort of maybe could resemble a firearm to a nearsighted person without corrective lenses at night in a blizzard. Never.

    Also, the report from NPR included:

    As for the hit-and-run crash, one of the three suspects was detained, cited and released by California Highway Patrol.

    All of this over a hit and run that resulted in a citation? Sure, maybe they didn’t catch the driver, and the citation given to a passenger for some other violation. I dunno. Smells fishy from thousands of miles away.

    [Excised polemic]

  3. JohnSF says:

    Now there’s a chair to give a chameleon nightmares. 😉

  4. Ken_L says:

    1.

    I hope these guys are proud of their work, rounding up a middle-aged woman and traumatizing her daughter.

    I’m sure creatures like Homan and Noem love it. They both openly revel in indulging in cruelty.

    2.

    Just to show that a) just because the administration declares you are a terrorist, doesn’t make it so, and b) due process of law is a must.

    My understanding is that far from dropping the terrorist allegations, they simply said he was about to be “deported” (i.e. imprisoned for life) so the trial was pointless.

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  5. @Flat Earth Luddite: @JohnSF: Ha! That photo is about 15 years old (look at the laptop!) and sadly the kitty is in kitty heaven. The chairs were old at the time, but I will confess we still have them, but they are tucked away in less prominent spaces these days.

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  6. JohnSF says:

    @Steven L. Taylor:

    look at the laptop!

    Looks almost identical to my current BCU laptop, lol.
    Cheapskate institutional IT, we haz it.

    Mind you, I do have a shirt that is pretty close to that chair, pattern-wise.
    Somewhere.

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